The Yellow Wallpaper

3 Pages 757 Words

In “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the main character describes herself as a little insane woman. In the beginning of the story, although she is suffering from a continuous nervous breakdown, her mental condition is not so serious and deep. She has a good family, nice house for the summer, and she has talent in writing. However, she is getting increasingly insane everyday that she lives in the bedroom with the yellow wallpaper and the bars on the windows. Then, why did she stay there? We can prove some of the reasons why the main character stayed so repressed throughout the summer retreat at the mansion: one - her oppressive husband, two – her exclusion from writing, and three - the struggle within herself.
First, there is John, her oppressive husband. John keeps his cloak of control over her with his profession and his male dominance. In addition, he is seemingly the leading person in the marriage as a typical middle-class male was in the past. He tells her to rest and sleep and never truly listened to her; “Personally, I disagree with their idea. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?”(p. 407). Even though she tries to discuss her feelings, his stern, reproachful looks and comments make her withdrawn, and her only choice becomes to go back to her bed. In addition, he also thinks what she says is just silly fantasies and illusion. She was almost imprisoned in her bedroom with the yellow paper. Moreover, she is not allowed to have visitors either. Specifically, his oppressive action pushes her deeper into madness.
Secondly, she is not even allowed to work on her writing because of her oppressive husband; “There comes John, and I must put this away - he hates to have me write a word ” (p.409). “So I take phosphates or phosphites – whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden...